Unfortunately, I have a cracked/broken knuckle on my left ring finger, and it's taped to my middle finger, so this entry will be shorter since, well, I'm having trouble just typing this.
-And the last shall be first; or at least, the first team discussed today. This unfortunate distinction goes to the worst team in college basketball, and the only one left winless on the year: the Centenary College Gentlemen. Centenary is a very tiny school in Shreveport, Louisiana with a student body of less than 1000 undergrads. You've got to act like a gentleman when you're the last team without a win, as these Gents do. They are 0-26 for the season, with a woeful 0-14 record in conference play in the Summit League, which is one of the worst conferences to begin with. Yeesh, my heart goes to these guys. Last night, they lost to some little college called Southern Utah, 70-49. Someone let these guys get a win. C'mon man! They've lost to the Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello, a D2 school...TWICE! How bad does your program have to be to GO TO A D2 school for an AWAY GAME? Thank God, they're actually transitioning into D3, which honestly, is the right move.
-St. John's looked like a tournament team for sure last night in their rout of Connecticut at MSG, 89-72. Dwight Hardy had his second straight 30-point outing, putting up a career high 33. He was 10-17 from the field, and 5-8 from downtown. This was UConn's fourth straight game against a zone defense, and obviously, they still don't have it down. They went 2-2 in these games. D.J. Kennedy had 20 points and 11 boards, including 9 in the first 10 minutes of the game. Likewise...
-UConn really needs to get their act together, and especially Kemba Walker. Kemba's not only cooling down, he's starting to get pretty cold. Against St. John's, he scored 15 points and went 4-7 from 3-point range. Doesn't sound too bad right? Well let's see what he shot from the field...4-16. That's 0-9 from inside the arc...oops. Also throw in his 6-15 effort from the free throw line in the last three games, and it's obvious things are very wrong in the land of the Huskies. It doesn't help that this team is young, and St. John's senior leaders just seemed to want this game a lot, lot more.
-Saint Mary's took down Santa Clara in a WCC game, 65-59. Saint Mary's scored a measly 6 points in the first 10 minutes and was challenged by SC throughout, including almost giving up a double-digit lead by not scoring a point in more than 4 minutes during the second half. Mickey McConnell led the Gaels with 25, and Kevin Foster did the same for Santa Clara.
-Vanderbilt barely hung on at home against the Crimson Tide of Alabama, 81-77, after a questionable call when Vanderbilt was up two, and JaMychal Green drove to the baseline and spun around a reverse layup that would have unquestionably been an and one, but he was ruled out of bounds. I saw the play today, and he did not appear to touch the line. Definitely a tough blow for Alabama, but they definitely looked pretty good.
-Washington ended their three-game slump with an assertive and dominating win against a pretty good Cal team, 109-77. Isaiah Thomas hit six treys, a career best, and notched 23 points. Six Washington players ended up scoring double digits. A good step for the Huskies, but I really don't see them going very far in the tournament this year.
-Butler held off fiesty Wright State, 71-63, in Hinkle Fieldhouse to get a decent win, and keep their tournament chances alive. They have a myriad of bad losses, going 9-5 so far in the Horizon League, but the exceptionally soft bubble this year has kept them in the conversation.
-Coastal Carolina, my No. 25 team in my Power Rankings, defeated a woeful Presbyterian team, 61-41. Presbyterian also wins my award for most woeful team name...they're the Blue Hose. Seriously, what the hell is a Blue Hose? That's a garbage name for a garbage team. The Chanticleers move to 23-2, and 14-0 in the Big South, and odds are looking good that they'll sweep the conference. Although everyone said that about Utah State in the WAC before Idaho took them out...but we'll see.
Postponed games from yesterday:
Chattanooga (14-11, 10-3 Southern) vs. West Carolina (11-13, 7-5 Southern) - Chattanooga players with the Flu
North Texas (16-7, 5-5 Sun Belt) vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (13-12, 5-5 Sun Belt) - Snow
No comments:
Post a Comment